Removing trunk badges

[jnorion]

I got motivated today to take off the trunk badges, which I've been planning for several months now. I was on baby duty today so I couldn't get started until late afternoon, so I'm only halfway through the process right now. I should be able to finish tomorrow though.

Here's how it looked before I started:

[jnorion]

Here are my tools. Duct tape, bondo, a butter knife, touch up paint, paint brush, and paint thinner. The paint thinner is useful to clean bondo off the car where I smeared it accidentally.

[jnorion]

Now for the process. The badges (seen in the picture above) are held to the car by small posts that go through a plastic grommet in the outer wall of the trunk.

Step 1: I pried up the badges using a Swiss Army knife, and scratched the paint slightly in the process. I would recommend finding another way to get them off.

Step 2: I pulled the plastic grommets out of the holes to make them flush with the back of the trunk. I had to squeeze them from the inside with needle nose pliers to get them out, which on the drivers side was a huge pain because of a bracket that got in the way.

Step 3: I covered the holes from the inside with duct tape to give the bondo a base to hold on to (see picture below). DISCLAIMER: I have made this work decently well in the past, but using duct tape is by no means the best or only way to do this, and I would recommend a more permanent method. I am using this simply because I've never done this before, and it's easy to remove if I screw up too badly. Once I'm satisfied I will attach a better backing material.

[jnorion]

Step 4: From the outside, I used the butter knife to spread bondo evenly into the hole. Paint thinner on a paper towel takes the excess off the car fairly well, but the bondo dries very fast so be sure to clean it as soon as you can.

At midnight tonight my car will become a vampire (see picture below).

[jnorion]

Tomorrow I will paint the spots back to the original color of the car. I also haven't decided whether or not I want to remove the center Mazda symbol. Here are photoshopped pictures of what it will look like when it's finished, with and without the Mazda symbol. I'm not asking for help deciding, but if anyone has opinions about it feel free to comment.

[Brad]

i like the way it looks without anything.

[RALLYBP_94]

Yeah... without anything looks better.
It makes the tailights stand out.

[alprotege]

i am fixing to do the same thing

[sam1]

im going to be doing this soon as well, but im leaving the flying M logo on. i kinda like it.

[Unleashed]

im using a plastic square and superglue for the inside hole covering, or i could use ducttape with bondo over it

shaved trunks look sweet... shaved doors look better (just did my friend's jetta!)

[Witchdoktor]

I took the "Protege" and "MAZDA" off and left the symbol on. A month after I took the symbol off and love it. Much cleaner, silver too btw.

Looks Awesome!

[jnorion]

I can't make the paint work... did you get it to look good without re-spraying the entire trunk lid? I can't make it look right at all.

[Witchdoktor]

body shop did repaint the entire trunk lid

[jnorion]

body shop did repaint the entire trunk lid

That's what I was afraid of. I went to the body shop today for advice, and they said they could fill the holes for about $40, but to do the whole thing would be something like $350. I think at this point I'm just going to put the badges back on until I can work out a way to paint the trunk lid myself. Then I'll give them the $40 for welding.

[Solo Proto]

you can do it yourself still. Get some fiberglass and put some glass over the back off the holes (inside). Then bondo from the outside, sand smooth (smallest area possible), prime area, then have painted. If you do all the hard work, the paiting is all you;ll have to pay for. Or if you have a easily color matched car, use a rattle can of GOOD automotive paint followed by wet sanding and clear. Its involved but possible.